The fight is over for those living in Cambrian 36. The bell has rung and they have won.

The area that is home to roughly 1,000 people will be annexed into the city on May 1. And the soon-to-be Campbell residents have made it clear that they’re willing to pay their own way.

Voters in Cambrian 36 overwhelmingly approved tax measures A and B in a special mail-in ballot election this month. Residents cast 354 yes votes, with only 36 people voting no.

“Things couldn’t be better,” said resident Mike Krisman on April 23 after the ballots had been counted. “After a battle like this, it’s nice to go home and be a part of Campbell.

“There was a lot of hard work that this neighborhood put in, and it’s an honor to be part of a neighborhood that would rise to the occasion and pass these measures,” added Krisman, president of the Campbell Village Neighborhood Association, which represents the Cambrian 36 area.

Cambrian 36 is located between Union Avenue, Bascom Avenue, Camden Avenue and McGlincey Drive in the southeast portion of Campbell. The area includes approximately 80 acres of mostly residential properties.

The new annual tax–$325 for residential properties and $600 for commercial properties–is expected to bring in $145,425 in new revenue for the city. That amount would stay the same for the next 40 years and would not be corrected for inflation even though costs of services are expected to increase in that time.

Most of the new tax will help pay for fire services, police enforcement and street maintenance, city staff said. Some of the funds will also help pay for recreation programs and flood and storm protection, mostly in the form of storm drain maintenance.

The tax will show up on Cambrian 36 residents’ property tax bills effective July 1.

Resident Tom Davis said he was proud that his neighbors approved the new tax.

“I think this says they’re a class act,” he said. “We would have become part of Campbell even if A and B hadn’t passed, but that would have been the cheap way to do it.

“We know Campbell spent big bucks on this project, and we wanted to help them get some of that money back.”

Cambrian 36 was what Krisman described as a “fractured neighborhood” with parts of the area in San Jose, Campbell and Santa Clara County. San Jose wanted to annex the properties into its city, but the neighborhood’s residents came out against it.

A seven-year battle ensued. In the end, the residents ended up in Campbell, where they wanted to be. But Campbell will pay the city of San Jose a guaranteed base of $199,000 a year for the next five years to make up for lost revenue.

Mayor Evan Low, who had been part of the process from the beginning, said that what the neighborhood has achieved is an example of what can happen when people work together.

“Frankly, it is awe-inspiring,” Low said. “I affectionately refer this situation as David vs. Goliath, and it really goes to show you what can be accomplished when people come together for a common cause.

“They were determined against all odds, and they were able to reach their goal. For me, this is the proudest accomplishment during my tenure on the council, and I am proud of the work of Cambrian 36 leaders.”

Cambrian 36 residents hadn’t thought of themselves as a neighborhood before the process began, said Davis, who is vice president of the neighborhood association.

“There were a lot of positive things that came out of this,” he said. “I met so many neighbors of mine that I never would have met without having gone through this process. A lot of us have become friends.”

Krisman said that neighborhood has become a close-knit community. As an example, he said, the neighborhood has done tree plantings, created a neighborhood improvement plan and held get-togethers.

He added that he and his neighbors still have some fight left in them, but it will be channeled in a different way.

“We’ve always been a part of the Campbell community, but now we’re going to be a part of it officially,” Krisman said. “The energy we’ve used in our neighborhood is now going to be used to branch out and become good citizens of Campbell.”

The city of Campbell and Cambrian 36 will be holding a ribbon-cutting event on May 1 when the area is officially annexed into the city. For more information on the Campbell Village Neighborhood Association, visit campbellvillage.org.

"I fully support the principles behind Senate Bill 1: to defeat efforts by the president and Congress to undermine vital federal protections that protect clean air, clean water and endangered species," Newsom said in a written statement.